MANCHESTER-. Erling Haaland he knew the impact his words could have… and he said them anyway.
The forward faced a series of questions on Tuesday about his future with the Manchester City and speculation that he could emigrate to Real Madrid.
“If I say this now, it’s probably going to be a big headline tomorrow,” the Norwegian said. “You never know what the future will bring, but I’m happy. You can write this, but you can also write everything I said before.”
Haaland had spoken well of his present at City. He was enthusiastic about the historic achievement of a triplet of titles in his first campaign and the possibility of repeating the feat in 2024.
“I am very happy, especially with the people around me, the coach, the managers, the board. “They are all an amazing group of people and I am really happy,” he said.
That statement will hardly put an end to the rumors linking him to Madrid, despite the fact that the Spanish club seems to have secured the hiring of Kylian Mbappé at the end of the season, when the French forward leaves Paris Saint-Germain.
Madrid was considered City’s biggest rival in the summer of 2022, when Haaland left Borussia Dortmund. Rumors about a move have circulated before.
Manchester City would surely want to put an end to these versions, by tying Haaland to a longer contract than the current one, which expires in 2027.
“My concentration is mainly on the court now,” he said. “There are many games. Two days ago it was the Manchester derby, now the Champions League. On Sunday it will be Liverpool. I think we should focus on that. “I don’t think I should focus on anything else at the moment.”
Haaland scored 52 goals in his first season with City to help them win the Premier League, Champions League and FA Cup. And despite his outstanding statistics, he couldn’t beat Lionel Messi in the voting for football’s biggest individual awards: The Ballon d’Or and FIFA’s The Best award.
Will Messi have to retire for Haaland to be recognized as the best footballer in the world?
“Don’t know. It’s a good question,” she said. “It’s true that he won it and won the World Cup, so I don’t know what to say. I think he is the best he has ever played.”
Source: AP
